Julius Randle is back in New York.
According to multiple reports, including ESPN's Shams Charania, the former Knicks All-Star has been dealt to the rival Nets as part of a three-team trade that brings Randle and the Timberwolves' 28th overall pick to Brooklyn, Nic Claxton to the Bulls, and the Nets' 33rd overall pick to Minnesota.
Randle was named to three All-Star teams during his time with the Knicks, and was the face of the team's surprising turnaround under Tom Thibodeau during the 2020-21 season, when Randle was named Most Improved Player and helped New York back to the playoffs for the first time in eight years. He labored through a tumultuous 2021-22 season in which he flashed a thumbs down to Knicks fans, but once again remade himself to earn two consecutive All-Star appearances before being traded to the Timberwolves, along with Donte DiVincenzo, for Karl-Anthony Towns.
Now, two years after that polarizing trade, Randle has been shipped out of Minnesota in what was essentially a salary dump, while Towns and the Knicks are NBA champions.
Ironically, Randle was the consolation prize for the Knicks in 2019 when the team struck out on hyped free agents Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, who both went to the Nets. Now, Randle is in Brooklyn with a team very much in a rebuild. The 31-year-old has not held back in his feelings/criticisms regarding his time in Gotham, and now, he is back in New York, albeit with a team carrying far lesser expectations and exposure.
The Timberwolves shipped out the face of the trade that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks.
The Timberwolves shipped out the face of the trade that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks.
